The lack of cyber security professionals in Australia is fast becoming a
national crisis. A survey this
week found that 88 per cent of local businesses were struggling with their
lack of skills. The government described the “critical shortage” as a “major
problem” in its national
cyber security strategy. The situation, it said, was “urgent’”.

Australia’s biggest businesses are taking the matter into their own hands,
collaborating with universities to attract more talent to the industry. As well
as helping ease the shortage, they are also seeking competitive advantage by
bolstering their own security capability and that of their customers.

One such partnership is the Optus Macquarie University
Cyber Security Hub which launched on Monday, the result of a $10 million
investment by Optus’ enterprise arm, Optus Business.

Win, win, win

For students the hub will provide the education and qualifications that will
make them among the most employable and best paid graduates in the country. For
the university it is an opportunity to undertake original research into cyber
governance, security risks and international threats.

For the telco it is part of what Optus Business managing director John
Paitaridis called a “very important strategic initiative”. “[We’re] very
focused on being a leading managed cyber security organisation in this
country,” he said.

David Wilkinson, the university’s deputy vice-chancellor (corporate
engagement and advancement) said cyber security had “become one of the defining
issues of this decade”. Attacks against Australian businesses and government
agencies are ever increasing in frequency and sophistication.

“We don’t believe that these organisations, in many cases, are equipped to
deal with the challenges,” says Paitaridis. “They lack expertise, lack the
budgets in some respects, and most importantly, they lack the skills.”

Cyber security is a growing part of the telco’s enterprise offering. Optus
Business is “uniquely placed”, Paitaridis said, to offer its customers cyber
security services and consultancy on top of its suite of enterprise
communication solutions.

“Clearly now cyber security as an attribute needs to be a part of all these
solutions, so customers see us as a very natural partner for enterprise cyber
security services,” he said. “We're taking that to the next level in also
equipping and training the workforces of our customer base as well, in
supporting them with their cyber sec strategies.”

The hub, situated at Macquarie University’s North Ryde campus in Sydney, is
a key part of that support, with short courses aimed at executives and
professional courses on offer alongside the undergraduate degree programmes.

As well as the courses, Optus Business’ customers, and those organisations
that take up hub membership, will be offered ‘opportunities for engagement with
students and staff to recruit workplace-ready graduates’ – a commodity in high
demand and short supply.

“We have lots of companies that come to speak to us in order to approach
undergrads and say, ‘Look do you want to work for us after you have
graduated?’” says Professor Ben Schreer, head of the university’s Department of
Security Studies and Criminology. “It’s not automatic of course, but by and
large you can really see that the good students, with a good education in that
space, are attractive for a lot of companies. “

For undergraduates, the hub will offer two related degrees, including
Bachelor of Information Technology majoring in Cyber Security. For
postgraduates, there is the opportunity to specialise in Internetworking and
Cyber Security among other related subjects. As well as the technical aspects,
the courses also cover the commercial and societal implications of cyber
attacks.

They are already proving very popular Schreer said, with “significant”
levels of enrolment. Universities across Australia are “reacting to the demand
of the market” while students are increasingly savvy to the employment
opportunities in the sector.

“Unis are reacting to the demand, students are reacting to the demand,”
Schreer explains, “partly because employability becomes ever more important to
students. Cyber security is valuable for the job market and so students are
drawn to it.”

“If you think about the numbers of the cyber enabled workforce that we need
across this country – it’s massive,” he adds. “We’re talking about thousands
and thousands of students…if you have students with expertise, and knowledge,
and training, that of course makes them attractive.”

The Commonwealth Bank launched its own centre of expertise the University of
New South Wales earlier
this year. The $1.6 million, five-year partnership includes the development
of an applied cyber security undergraduate curriculum which commenced online in
March, the establishment of a security engineering lab, and support for PhD
researchers.

“It
enables us to support innovation in Australia as well as aligning ourselves
with innovation that we believe will materially benefit our customers and
shareholders over the next decade,” said the bank’s CEO, Ian Narev.

Although there is competitive advantage to be gained by those companies
supporting education in cyber subjects, the outcome helps the nation too. Both
Optus Business' and the Commonwealth Bank's hubs sponsor research and
innovation in the area.

Speaking in his capacity as deputy chair of the Australian Information
Industry Association, Paitaridis added: “We are very
focused on ensuring as a country, as an economy, as an industry, that we are
cyber ready. That we’re building out our capabilities, that we’re investing in
our cyber defences at the enterprise level and the government level and also
driving some competitive advantage in this space.

“This is a critical area — we must support and protect our enterprises and
our government agencies from attacks. We need an ecosystem response, we need industry,
we need academia and we need government working together to tackle it.”

Copyright 2019 IDG Communications. ABN 14 001 592 650. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of IDG Communications is prohibited.